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Summary: Hybrid metal oxide heterostructures have been considered as ideal and potential anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) due to their better electrochemical performances, such as reversible capacity, structural stability and electronic conductivity. Herein, we have demonstrated synthesis of NiCo2O4/BiVO4 heterostructures by simple hydrothermal strategy to construct hybrid xNiCo2O4/(1–x)BiVO4 heterostructures with four selected compositions, that is, x = 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%. XRD shows the phases of NiCo2O4 and BiVO4 and FE‐SEM data revealed strong interface coupling between NiCo2O4 nanowires and BiVO4 dendrites. Upon testing for electrochemical properties, the optimized composition of 30%NiCo2O4‐70% BiVO4 showed higher reversible capacity of 408.6 mAh/g at a constant current rate of 0.5 A/g after 1000 cycles with columbic efficiency around 99% suggesting potential electrode material for high‐performance LIBs. The higher capacity is mainly attributed to the large surface area which can provide more channels and locations for fast Li ion intercalation/de‐intercalation into electrode materials. Additionally, improved Li ion storage capacity with superior rate capability of BN‐30 electrode could be attributed to its lower charge‐transfer resistance. The dendritic and nanowire heterostructure novel system with good stable capacity for LIBs is hitherto unattempted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are reporting a novel spinel metal oxide photocatalyst, ZnBiGaO4 for the photocatalytic decomposition of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to generate hydrogen. ZnBiGaO4 was prepared by two different methods. One is usual solid-state route and another is hydrothermal route, and this is the first time we are reporting ZnBiGaO4 synthesized by this route. The newly prepared ZnBiGaO4 was characterized for its crystal structure and microstructure by using XRD and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), respectively. XRD analysis revealed that the structure of ZnBiGaO4 is cubic spinel structure. The photocatalyst was also characterized by using UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to determine its band gap and was estimated to be 2.8 eV. Our prima facie observations revealed that the formation of single-phase cubic spinel ZnBiGaO4 with significant photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiations for solar hydrogen generation from H2S. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]